A 9-year-old boy reeled in a 42-pound blue catfish on Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico on Sunday, beating his father’s record by 6 pounds, which is impressive considering he’s a fishing guide.
The catch was not far off the state record of 54 1/4 pounds for a blue catfish, but it proved to be a record for the family and Muddy River Catfishing.
“I always knew my son would out-fish me some day, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon,” Kris Flores told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors, referring to son Alex.
Scouting the lake to find active catfish for upcoming guided trips, Flores had been fishing all day with his family and was about to call it quits just after sundown when the big blue catfish bit.
“Alex was quick to get to [the rod] and started reeling,” Flores told For The Win Outdoors. “At first, he didn’t think the fish was very big, but it didn’t take long for the big blue catfish to realize he was hooked. That’s when the fight started—the rod bending and reel screaming.”
The video showed that very moment.
“Alex fought that fish until it came up from the depths,” Flores told For The Win Outdoors. “I fumbled around trying to get it into the net.”
It was challenging because the rod was in a rod holder, so the end of the tip was more than 2 feet beyond the reach of the net.
“But finally it swam in,” he said.
Also on FTW Outdoors: Kayak fisherman nearly toppled by 200-pound alligator gar
Alex told KRQE that as soon as he started reeling it in “it didn’t feel that heavy, but then as soon as it got heavier, as soon as the rod bent, I should say, I knew it was a big fish.”
Everyone on the boat was excited as photos were taken with the fish.
“The fish was definitely too heavy for him to hold so I had him sit down and then I placed the fish on his lap for the photo,” Kris said.
After a couple of photos, the fish was released.
Alex nicknamed the fish Wailord (a whale) after the largest of all identified Pokemon characters. It was apropos as Alex’s fish was the biggest among the 25 caught that day.
“I’m pretty proud of my son handling that fish all on his own,” Kris said.
Photos courtesy of Kris Flores.